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Teachings from the Sunday Services at Speak the Word Church International


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Our world faces many conflicts today which demand a solution. If we are going to resolve the human conflict in this world and enjoy peace and safety, it will require the application of the agape love of God.

In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus revealed the greatest commandment. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The solution for conflict resolution cannot be found in man's regulations and laws because laws deal with man's external behavior, but love deals with the internal matters of the heart. UNTIL THE HEART IS CHANGED, THE LIFE CANNOT BE CHANGED. That is the difference between having a relationship with God who has the power to change us and man on his own trying to change himself. 

Love that is based on human emotions is self-satisfying, self-seeking, and self-pleasing. Jesus demonstrated the love of God during His most difficult hour on the cross by thinking about others rather than Himself. God's love is redemptive, sacrificial, and unconditional.

Today we will see the agape love of God in action through a man who demonstrated "Agape Love" and the impact it had in changing a life that had been victimized.

Your pastor and life coach,
 
Randy Morrison
    
Remember: Spiritual Success begins on Sunday Morning!   


In Luke 10:23-37, we see the love of God in action through a man who shared of himself with no expectation of anything in return. A lawyer asked Jesus a question to justify himself. "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus responded by saying, "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead." Two religious men demonstrated human love in response to the cry of this helpless man. First, A certain priest saw him and passed by on the other side because he didn't want to get involved. Then, a Levite looked at the man and responded with sympathy, but he avoided any engagement. The religious leaders reveal something to us.
 
If we do not care for others, we cannot sustain a good relationship with God.
 
REMEMBER: Our relationship with God is not based on convenience, but on our commitment to love regardless. Love is not just being aware of things. Love requires corresponding action. 



"But a Samaritan, when he saw the man..." The Samaritan had compassion for the man. There is a difference between pity and compassion. Pity is simply feeling sorry about a situation, but doing nothing about it.
 
COMPASSION STEPS INTO SOMEONE ELSE'S EXPERIENCE.
 
The Samaritan had compassion because he identified with the stranger, having experienced rejection and pain himself as a "Samaritan who was racially rejected because of his ethnicity." When he saw the man he connected with him and acted on the man's behalf by stepping into his situation and taking the risk of loving him unconditionally. 1 John 3:16-17 tells us that Jesus demonstrated the love of God by laying his life down for us. We will either do the same or we will allow selfishness to plug the compassion of God from flowing through us.
 
REMEMBER: There should never be a conflict between our love for God and love for our fellow man



In 1 John 4:19-21, we discover that God loved us first, in spite of our fallen condition. If we can't love our brothers and sisters whom we have seen, how can we love God whom we haven't seen? If we say we love God, but we don't love people, we are misrepresenting who God is. If we say we are going to love like God, we have to love everybody the same. The Samaritan had every right not to help the wounded man. However, he moved with compassion, crossed over the line, and stepped into his life. His compassion compelled him to take action. 

The world will not change until we are willing to do something about it. We can talk about love, but that isn't going to change anyone. The world will not change until they see a demonstration of love that is redemptive, sacrificial and unconditional.
 
LESSONS ABOUT COMPASSION FROM THE GOOD SAMARITAN
 
1.   Compassion reaches beyond all racial barriers.

2.    Compassion is more than human sympathy. It extends generosity beyond self.

3.    Compassion is not limited in its commitment to others.

4.    Compassion is shown by action without concern about convenience.

 

We need to ask ourselves a question:
Are we walking in love based on human emotions 
or are we walking in the agape love of God?

REAL LOVE COSTS!

 

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